


The Living Stone

by canufeelthemagictonight



Category: Escape the Night (Web Series), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Friendship, Happy Ending, Skeptical Eva, Sort Of, Soulmates, Timothy DeLaGhetto: Shipper on Deck, Urban Legends, have I ever told you how much I love Eli, look at these dorks, statue, that turn out to be actually true
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-16
Updated: 2019-06-16
Packaged: 2020-05-12 11:06:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19227925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/canufeelthemagictonight/pseuds/canufeelthemagictonight
Summary: She's heard of the legend, of course. Everyone in town has. But she likes to focus on things that are within the realm of possibility, and statues that come to life when their soulmates touch them is simplynotin that realm.They say that the statue will come to life when its soulmate touches its hand. Eva thinks it's a load of rubbish, but what if, just this once, she's proven wrong?An Escape the Night AU.





	The Living Stone

**Author's Note:**

> This is based on a prompt my friends gave me. Hope you all like it!

"They call it 'The Hunter,'" says Sierra in a tour-guide-esque voice, even though she is not a tour guide at all. "It was imported here all the way from _Britain,_ can you believe it? A hundred years ago!" She squints at the statue. "It doesn't _look_ a hundred. It looks brand new."

"That's cause it's _not_ a statue, Princess," Tim replies. "It's a human!"

"Don't call me Princess!"

Eva rolls her eyes at the pair of them. "It's just a _story,_ Timothy. There's not an ounce of proof to back it up. Statues can't turn into humans, _everybody_ knows that, and besides, wouldn't they—"

Tim ignores her, walks up to the statue, and takes its hand in his. "Hey." He grins flirtatiously at the inanimate object. "I'm Timothy."

Nothing happens. Sierra snickers. Tim shrugs and steps away.

"I _told_ you," snaps Eva. "Don't believe everything you read."

"Hey, maybe I'm not his type," Tim casually reply. "Maybe he doesn't swing that way. Princ—uh, I mean, Sierra, why don't you give him a go?"

Sierra approaches the statue, a sulky I-can't-believe-I'm-doing-this expression stamped across her heart-shaped face. She tentatively touches hands with the statue. Of course, it doesn't come to life, causing Sierra to yank her hand away as if it's been burned. "There," she declares. "Eva's right. The story isn't true."

"Let's get something to eat," suggests Eva. "Matt and Lele said they'd meet us at the hot dog stand two blocks from here."

"If they haven't killed each other already," giggles Sierra.

"Hold up!" Tim whirls on Eva. His smile is tinted with mischief, as if he's about to play one of his infamous practical jokes. "There's still one person in this group who hasn't touched him yet."

It takes Eva a minute to realize what—or, rather, _who_ —he's talking about. "Oh, _come_ on." She's heard of the legend, of course. Everyone in town has. But she likes to focus on things that are within the realm of possibility, and statues that come to life when their soulmates touch them is simply _not_ in that realm. Tim is just being ridiculous. Again. That's all there is to it. "I'm _not_ gonna make a fool of myself for _your_ silly story."

Tim waggles his eyebrows at her. "Why? Scared it'll work? Come on, Gutowski, just _touch_ it. The rest of us touched it. You should too."

"Look, Eva, you might as well play along," sighs Sierra. "Timothy's probably not gonna let us hear the end of it until you do, and I want to eat lunch _without_ having to listen to him go on about this dumb thing."

"Yup!" chirps Tim.

This causes another eyeroll from Eva. "Fine." She'll do it, but _only_ to shut Tim up. Better to make a fool of herself than to endure her Asian friend's (admittedly good-natured) teasing for the rest of the day.

Tim pulls a camera out of his pocket and begins to film the scene.

"Hey, no fair!" Eva cries. "You didn't film you or Sierra touching this thing!"

"Happened too fast," is Tim's mediocre attempt at explanation.

Sierra's visibly antsy at this point; she's fidgeting like a kid on a sugar rush. "Just touch it, Eva. Please. I'm hungry. I want food."

Well, Eva wants food as well, and she also wants this silliness to be over, so she marches up to the statue with a glint of determination in her dark eyes. As Tim and Sierra watch (and film) her, she gives the so-called "Hunter" a good once-over, just for memory's sake. It's a young man, clearly not a day over twenty-one, with a shotgun in one hand and absolutely nothing in the other, wearing overalls and a brown coat that would've been fluffy if it wasn't made of stone...and honestly, kind of attractive, in a statue sort of way.

The word "hi" slips out of her mouth, which is odd, since she's addressing a statue. She briefly wonders what's coming over her before she gently takes its hand. _It's warm,_ she thinks. _That's odd. Statues aren't supposed to be warm._

Tim whistles.

"There." Eva turns back to her friends. "I touched the damn thing. Can we go get—"

She is interrupted by a gasp of surprise from behind her, and she whirls around to see the world's most impossible sight: the no-longer statue, now a _person,_ about to fall off its podium. Eva instinctively grabs its— _his_ —hand again to steady him. "Oh! Be careful!" She helps him off the platform, all the while thinking _what the hell?_

Sierra looks like she's about to faint. Even Tim seems shocked at this turn of events.

"I have _so_ many questions," says the young man.

"So do I," Eva replies. "What's your name? Where are you from? Why were you a statue until thirty seconds ago?"

The young man speaks in a pleasant voice, which includes a British accent. "I'm Oliver White. People call me Oli. I was hunting with my mates, and then...I don't know...I don't remember..." He stares at Eva. "Do I know you? It feels like we've met before."

"You're her soulmate!" declares Tim, who seems to have gotten over the absurdity of the situation fairly quickly.

Oli's face scrunches up with confusion. "Her _what?"_

"Ignore him," says Eva. "He believes in this urban legend..." But it's _not_ a legend, is it? It's real. It makes no sense, but it's _real._ What has her day become? "You know what? Just come with us. We'll find out what's going on and get you back to where you need to be."

"Thank you." Oli smiles at Eva. For some reason, his smile makes her heart do a strange sort of flip-flop in her stomach.

Sierra gulps. "I am _so_ not explaining this to Lele and Matt."

"Just say that Eva met a guy," suggests Tim.

_"Timothy!"_

"What? It's technically the truth!"

The four of them head off for lunch. Oli's hand slips into Eva's for the third time in ten minutes, and since it feels oddly comfortable there, she doesn't pull away. _Maybe this is the start of something,_ contemplates the romantic in her. _Maybe this statue boy really_ is _my soulmate after all._

One thing for sure: she can't _wait_ to get to know him better.

**Author's Note:**

> Gotta love the OTP, huh?


End file.
